Propylene, rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation

Another route to the diol monomer is provided by hydroformylation of allyl alcohol or allyl acetate. Allyl acetate can be produced easily by the palladium-catalyzed oxidation of propylene in the presence of acetic acid in a process similar to commercial vinyl acetate production. Both cobalt-and rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylations have received much attention in recent patent literature (83-86). Hydroformylation with cobalt carbonyl at 140°C and 180-200 atm H2/CO (83) gave a mixture of three aldehydes in 85-99% total yield. 

For the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of propylene in an aqueous biphasic system. Cents et al. have shown that the accurate knowledge of the mass transfer parameters in the gas-liquid-liquid system is necessary to predict and optimize the production rate [180]. Choudhari et al. enhanced the reaction rate by a factor of 10-50 by using promoter Ugands for the hydroformylation of 1-octene in a biphasic aqueous system [175]. 

When P(OPh)3 was used as ligand, the effect of an excess of it on the isomer ratio was far less significant.301 These studies have led to the introduction of an industrial process for the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of propylene to n-butyraldehyde which is rapidly gaining in importance relative to the older, cobalt-catalyzed route. 2,303 The relative merits of the two processes have been discussed.303,304... 

Also homogeneous hydroformylation catalysts are able to degrade triarylphos-phines. Gregario et al. noted that, during the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of propylene, PPhj was slowly converted into PPhgPr [194]. 

In the course of the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation, metal diarylphos-phides can be alkylated to give alkyldiarylphosphines. For example, with propylene as substrate, propyldiphenylphosphine, benzene, and benzalde-hyde were formed (Scheme 2.58) [96b]. Propyldiphenylphosphine and... 

The discovery and use of fluorophosphites and chlorophosphites as trivalent phosphorus ligands in the rhodium catalyzed, low-pressure hydroformylation reaction are described. The hydroformylation reaction with halophosphite ligands has been demonstrated with terminal and internal olefins. For the hydroformylation of propylene, the linear to branched ratio of the butyraldehyde product shows a strong dependency on the ligand to rhodium molar ratios, the reaction temperature, and the carbon monoxide partial pressure. 

The production of 2-ethylhexanol from propylene by the rhodium catalyzed, low pressure oxo process is accomplished in three chemical steps. The first step of the process (described in section on n-butanol manufacture) converts propylene to normal butyraldehyde by hydroformylation in the presence of a rhodium catalyst. In a second step, the normal aldehyde is aldoled to form 2-ethylhexena1. 2-Ethylhexenal is then hydrogenated to 2-ethylhexanol and refined in the third and final step(see Figure 3). 

In summary, then, in the rhodium-catalyzed industrial process for propylene hydroformylation a high phosphine-to-Rh molar ratio is used. Under these conditions the use of a moderately bulky ligand such as triphenyl phosphine ensures that the catalysis takes place by the topmost cycles in Fig. 5.5, and n-butyraldehyde with high selectivity is produced. 

It has been known for many years that transition metals catalyze reactions of coordinated phosphines (2). Known reactions of phosphines as ligands include carbon-hydrogen lx)nd cleavage (cyclometalation), as well as direct carbon-phosphorus bond cleavage. Such metal-catalyzed reactions of phosphines lead to formation of new metal complexes which can affect catalyst properties. A known example is the reaction of triphenylphosphine to propyldiphenylphosphine during the rhodium-catalyzed propylene hydrogenation or hydroformylation (5). 

Two-phase, or biphasic, catalysis has gained increasing attention over the past two decades. One driving force undoubtedly was the successful implementation of large-scale applications in industry. Rhodium-catalyzed aqueous biphasic propylene hydroformylation, performed by the Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Polenc process, represents the most important carbonylation reaction today, with a total outcome of more than... 

Kuntz subsequently showed that the RhCl (tppts) 3 catalyzed the hydroformylation of propylene in an aqueous biphasic system [29]. These results were further developed, in collaboration with Ruhrchemie, to become what is known as the Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc two-phase process for the hydroformylation of propylene to n-butanal [18, 19, 22, 30]. Ruhrchemie developed a method for the large scale production of tppts by sulfonation of triphenylphosphine with 30% oleum at 20 °C for 24 h. The product is obtained in 95% purity by dilution with water, extraction with a water insoluble amine, such as tri(isooctylamine), and pH-controlled re-extraction of the sodium salt of tppts into water with a 5% aqueous solution of NaOH. The first commercial plant came on stream in 1984, with a capacity of 100000 tons per annum of butanal. Today the capacity is ca. 400000 tpa and a cumulative production of millions of tons. Typical reaction conditions are T=120°C, P=50bar, CO/H2 = 1.01, tppts/Rh = 50-100, [Rh] = 10-1000 ppm. The RhH(CO) (tppts)3 catalyst is prepared in situ from e.g. rhodium 2-ethylhexanoate and tppts in water. 

A plausible mechanism was reported for the catalytic formation of benzene resulting from phosphorus-carbon bond cleavage which occurs during propylene hydroformylation catalyzed by triphenylphos-phine-substituted rhodium carbonyls under higher H2 partial pressures (Scheme 37). " ... 

The hydroformylation of alkenes is commonly run using soluble metal carbonyl complexes as catalysts but there are some reports of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions of olefins with hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Almost all of these are vapor phase reactions of ethylene or propylene with hydrogen and carbon monoxide catalyzed by rhodium, " 20 ruthenium,nickel, 22,123 cobalt, 23,124 and cobalt-molybdenum 23 catalysts as well as various sulfided metal catalysts. 23,125,126... 

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